VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — “People eat with their eyes first, so we have to catch them, so these are my turkey legs, chicken tender basket,” said North Hills Catering worker Alex Brickley.
Hundreds of vendors were set up, lining the Oceanfront as Neptune Festival kicked off.
Some vendors like Ward Brunkow didn’t have to do much to bring people to his kettle corn stand, the smell did it all.
“This is the main festival that we do every year and we’ve been here 14 years,” said Olde Virginia Kettle Corn owner Ward Brunkow.
The day started off cooler and gray. Brunkow said he was worried about the weather holding out, because he knew first hand how it could affect his business.
“We got rained out a few years ago that was a huge financial loss but that’s part of the business you’re gambling with Mother Nature,” said Brunkow.
Lucky for him and hundreds of other vendors, the weather behaved for most of the day, and he expects to pop a lot of kettle corn for people stopping by.
“We anticipate using 20 of those or a half a ton of raw popcorn,” he said.
But those who came out to the festival didn’t mind the gray skies at all.
“I think the temperature wise is perfect so its a good walking day,” said local John Dale.
And a good distraction from the weather? Food.
A lot of these businesses say this festival is so important to them, they’ve traveled in from different states far away.
